Favor and the Dragon
by Heuvel
Summary: Anya, a girl the same age as Harry and his school mates, drops into Hogwarts to be with her uncle while her parents are in Africa. She's a Muggle, and Draco isn't happy. At first. Draco/OC.
1. Chapter One: Anya

It was the first day of the sixth year at Hogwarts. All the students were gathered around in the Great Hall for their very first meal of the year, and the mood of the school was bright and homey. The Trio, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, were fervently chatting about their summer and dreams while at the same time, at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy and his friends were snickering at the other students of the school. It was a fairly normal first day of school for our characters, and no one seemed to be troubled. However, Professor Dumbledore was still sitting uneasy next to his fellow professors. He would glance from the students of the Hall, then quickly to the other teachers, before staring back at the gigantic doors at the end of the Hall. Something was obviously on his mind, but the people surrounding him didn't seem to notice. They didn't have time to notice, however, because they were interrupted by the doors opening dramatically.

In the frame of the door, taking up more of its percentage than the normal person, stood Hagrid. The students looked up at him expectantly for a moment. Hagrid normally sat at the table up from with the professors, so seeing him so late was different. And as they thought about it, Harry and his friends realized that they hadn't seen Hagrid earlier today when they were on the train. It was someone else that took the first years to Hogwarts, not Hagrid. Nonetheless, Harry, Hermione and Ron smiled brightly at him, Draco presented him with his scowl before turning away, and the remaining students either looked at with pleasure or indifference. Whatever the reason for Hagrid's absence before, it wasn't fazing them at the moment.

Hagrid on the other hand looked almost as nervous at Dumbledore. He glanced down at the teacher's table for a moment to wait for further instructions. At Dumbledore's nod, he turned around and went back into the hallway to fetch something unknown to the students—who have all gotten back to their side conversations. When Hagrid returned, he was not alone. Standing next to him was a young girl the same age as Harry. She was wearing a pale yellow sun dress and dainty shoes. Her hair was long and dark brown, and her eyes were of a deep ocean blue. She was slender, and her face was heart shaped and unscarred. She looked completely out of place in the melancholy light of the Hall, and the students of Hogwarts knew this. One by one, and then a few by a few, all the students had their eyes on her. There came a storm of whispers around the Hall from the students, and before she and Dumbledore knew it, each student was trying to figure out why she had shown up so suddenly. No one had ever seen her before, and she wasn't wearing the traditional robes that each student was to wear on the first day of school.

With a gentle push from Hagrid, the girl started to walk down the room towards the table in the front. She tried to hold her head up high; however the more she felt all the eyes of the room on her, the more she became nervous. She was relieved when she finally reached Dumbledore and gave him a hug. He hugged her back like a grandfather would, and whispered something encouraging to her that allowed her shoulders to fall a bit.

When she felt that she could handle it, she turned around and looked at the students who were staring at her. She didn't realize how many of the students there were. Dumbledore had mentioned that Hogwarts was a famous school, but she was surprised nonetheless. Still, she put on her best smile, which ended up looking shy, straightened her back so her shoulders were square, and waited for Dumbledore to announce her.

"Students, I've got an announcement for all of you." Dumbledore stated sternly, which directed the attention from the girl and onto him for a moment. "The girl next to me is called Anya. She is my niece, and her parents have gone off on a 6-month long trip to Africa. They have asked me to look after Anya for I am the sole relative of the three. The only way for me to look after her, however, if to invite her to stay at Hogwarts where she will constantly be under my watchful eye. Hogwarts is a safe place, so her parents didn't protest to it."

The students that filled the Hall understood and glanced at Anya, who was still trying her best to smile at them. Majority of the students smiled back at her as well, which made her feel a bit better about the entire situation. However, Dumbledore was still uneasy. Despite the fact that some of the students were starting to come around to the idea of her presence, he had yet to tell them one of the harder things he needed to inform them on. After a moment to let the students allow the news to sink in, he finally said, "Anya here is from a country called America. She is a Muggle who was born to Muggle parents. My sister was not fortunate enough to be born with magical abilities. Anya has never done any magic, and by the request of her parents, she will not learn nor do any magic during her time here." A sudden hush casted over the students. The fact that someone was not allowed to do magic at Hogwarts was unfathomable, and almost all of them thought for a moment what life would be like had they not been allowed to experiment with magic.

The Trio didn't seem too fazed by the idea of Anya being a Muggle. Harry had spent the early part of his life living in the Muggle world, Hermione was born from Muggle parents, and Ron lived close to the Muggle village. However, at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy almost gagged at the word Muggle. He scowled at Anya and rolled his eyes at Dumbledore, not surprised to see him show mercy on a Muggle. However, as strange as it was, a lot of the students took it well. They understood that it was a special circumstance for Anya, and they didn't think of it. Yet, Dumbledore wasn't finished. "Anya has never ever seen magic." At this, the students all gasped at her. This made Anya especially uncomfortable, and it made her shrink back closer to Dumbledore. The students could understand someone who has seen magic, but just wasn't allowed to use it. But most of them couldn't fathom life without magic; it was completely unknown to them.

Dumbledore 'ahem'ed loudly and all the students were looking at him again. He needed to get down to business for fear of embarrassing Anya anymore. "Even though Anya isn't a student of Hogwarts, she still needs a place to sleep. I've been thinking they she could live in the Gryffindor house. However, I need someone to be her mentor and show her around. Any volunteers?"

No one moved. Anya started to become more and more nervous standing up in front of students in which she thought didn't want to know her. However, the lack of volunteers wasn't because they didn't want to get to know her, it was because they knew how big of a job it was going to be to introduce her to magic. How were they going to explain that the ghosts were harmless? That the portraits were supposed to move? And that the stairwells actually do move, and to not be alarmed when they do? How were they going to go over all the weird creatures she was going to see? The job itself was so massive; no one could comprehend where to start and how to execute it. So they all sat still, motionless, waiting for the next move.

At the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy decided that this was a good time to speak to his buddies. So he leaned down close to them and chuckled out, "Looks like no one wants to get to know the Mudblood. Big surprise." At this, all of his house friends started to giggle.

Dumbledore saw the commotion, and without thinking about Professor Snape or any other Slytherin authority figure, he said, "Mr. Malfoy, thank you for volunteering. I suppose to make it a bit easier for you; we will place Anya in the Slytherin house so she can be closer to you."

The entire room froze at Dumbledore's statement. Snape stood up and shot a death glare to Malfoy before staring at Dumbledore in amazement.

Malfoy's face twisted up in complete disgust. "What?! I'm not going to show a Mudblood around! That's just a waste of time!"

"It will be a good lesson for you. For all of us. To understand a Muggle outside of class and hear what she thinks of us. We could learn a lot from our new friend. And as for you, Draco Malfoy, I'm not making this an option. You will show Anya our lovely school." Malfoy glanced at Snape. Instead of jumping in and trying to relive Malfoy of his new job, Snape only shook his head at him. It was Malfoy's fault for speaking out of turn anyway, and Dumbledore was set on it; Snape could do nothing. Malfoy could only sit down and wait for further instructions from the head master.

Dumbledore looked down at Anya, who was feeling worse than she did before. She didn't know what a 'Mudblood' was, but by the tone of Malfoy's voice, she knew that it wasn't a compliment. From the events that occurred during this time, Anya knew that her stay at Hogwarts was going to be a hard one. The person who was to help her become accustomed to Hogwarts didn't even want to show her around, the remaining students seemed stunned by her presence, and soon she was going to experience magic for the first time. What had she gotten herself into?

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This is my first story on Fanfiction, so I'm a little nervous. This is also the first time I've ever really researched/written about Harry Potter, but I love the characters and what they're like, so I wanted to write a story. If by chance I made any mistakes in regards to the books or movies, please let me know politely and I'll be glad to change them for you. :) Any suggestions in the reviews would be awesome as well. 3


	2. Chapter Two: Kind

I changed the title of my story. Anya is Russian, and it means 'grace' or 'favor' and Draco means 'dragon' or 'serpent'. I just thought I'd come up with a more clever title that hasn't been used over and over again to show Draco's change of heart in regards to Muggles. Sorry if it seemed boring in the beginning. :)

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"Why don't you go over and sit next to Mr. Malfoy? He can give you some pointers about our meals." Said Dumbledore gently to Anya, but loud enough for Malfoy and his friends to hear. He then looked sternly at Malfoy, just daring him to defy his instructions. Malfoy, reluctantly, moved to the side to let room for Anya.

Before she went, however, she leaned up to her uncle and whispered, "Do I have do? He seems so mean Albus.."

"Yes. I'm sorry, but you'll thank me for it later. I promise. Draco is a little icy in the exterior, but I'm sure he'll warm up so such a ray of sunshine like you. You have nothing to worry about." And with that, Dumbledore gently nudged her along to Draco, who stood like the gentleman he was conditioned to be for her to sit down. Anya slowly sat down next to him. In comparison, Draco was taller and his shoulders were quite a ways wider. His hair contrasted with hers quite a bit, as well as his skin. Draco had such fair skin, while Anya's skin was lightly kissed by sun. Draco's eyes were narrow and seething with anger and resentment towards anyone, while Anya's eyes were wide and accepting. When she smiled up at Draco, he only shook his head and looked the other way. He couldn't stand looking at her.

A couple feet away, at the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron and Hermione leaned in to each other; Harry was the first to speak. "Poor thing…Draco's going to make her miserable."

"Bloody hell, Harry, we should have volunteered when we had the chance. At least we'd be able to make her stay here a bit better. Now that she's surrounded by Slytherins, she's going to be bullied for the entire time she's here." Said Ron, whose face was red from only that one statement; he had a way of becoming passionate. Hermione only nodded in agreement to both boys and looked sadly back at Anya. For the rest of the dinner, The Trio and the remaining students kept the close eye on the new arrival.

After a long awkward pause, Anya finally decided to speak, "So..How is the food served?" No one answered. All of the residents at the table scoffed and looked over at their friends with raised eyebrows. A couple of them rolled their eyes and made eye contact with Draco, who only scowled worse. This was going to be a long meal.

"It's not that hard. It appears when it's ready. That's how food is always served." Growled Draco. "Just because you don't know anything about magic doesn't mean to have to act like a fool when it comes to food."

"…But food doesn't just appear for us. We have to make it ourselves. You have to make food as well, right?" Inquired Anya.

"…No. Of course not. I come from one of the wealthiest families known to the wizard world. I never have to make my own food."

"…Does someone else make it?"

Draco's patience was wearing thin. He let out an exasperated sigh, "Look! I don't know or care. Just eat the damn food when it appears." To emphasize his distaste of her, he rotated his body so that his back was facing her; cutting her out of the circle of conversation. Anya swallowed heavy and looked down at the table unable to speak. However, almost on cue, the food was summoned by Dumbledore and appeared right in front of her eyes. She gasped loudly and covered her heart in shock. She looked at Draco is pure amazement, but in reply, Draco only raised a questioned eyebrow at her. "You're that worthless of a being, aren't you? You can't even understand food." His friends started to laugh at her and grab at the food to be consumed. Anya couldn't say or do anything, so she timidly took the food she wanted when everyone else was finished taking theirs. The table sure made it clear that she was under them, it was only right for her to wait until they got their food, right?

*******

When the meal was over, and the students had spent their amount of time chatting away, the professors requested that the students start heading to their rooms. Anya, who hadn't said a word since she had spoken to Draco, was just happy to leave the awkward confines of the table and go to bed. She was exhausted and scared, and she didn't feel like being around the Slytherins any longer. So when she heard the request, she promptly stood up and waited for Draco to escort her to her room. Draco slowly stood up, still laughing about some inside joke that he shared with his classmates, and looked at her. A frown slowly morphed onto his face, "Oh. Right. You. Well then. Follow me." And he started to exit out of the Great Hall and head into the corridor.

Anya had to jog for a moment to catch up with him, but when she finally did, she become in sync with his step. She had only seen the entrance to the castle and the Great Hall, so she couldn't help but stare at everything and anything with pure admiration. Soon, however, she realized that Draco was taking a different route than his other classmates. After a couple of minutes, she found herself alone with him in the hallways. Hopelessly following him to her quarters, or her death, she didn't really know which. Draco came to the end of a hallway and started to descend down a dark stairwell, but Anya didn't follow him. She stood stock still at the top of the stairs and stared at him with pure horror. When Draco realized that the small pitter patter of her walk had ceased, he stopped and looked up at her from only a couple of steps down. "What's wrong with you? Haven't you ever been in a dark staircase with a stranger before?"

Anya twisted her hands together nervously. "Isn't it unsafe being down here by ourselves?" She asked, looking behind her for a teacher to pop out and scold the both of them for being away from the other students.

"I take this way instead the other on the first day of classes. I don't want to stand around with all the first years and hear the same lecture Snape gives them every single year. I have better things to do then stand around with a bunch of stupid kids and listening to the rules over and over again. And I also have better things to do than to lead you around. So you can come with me, or you can stand there and look like a bloody idiot. I'm leaving." And with that, and a huff, he started to continue his way down the stairs once again.

Anya couldn't help herself. She felt a sudden, almost instinct pull to follow him down the stairs. Other than Albus, Draco was the only person she could really trust at the moment, even though she felt she didn't want to. So down she went, stair after stair, behind Draco who little did she know, had a conniving smirk across his face. Anya didn't know when it was going to end either. She felt herself go right over and over again, like she was on one continuous winding staircase down to her death. And to make all of these matters worse, she felt the air around her become colder and colder.

After a while, she finally started to see a faint green glow at the bottom of the staircase, and to her relief, she could see the outline of Draco in front of the glow. He stopped at the bottom and waited until she was next to him. When she was, he turned to her with the meanest snarl on his face, "Now look. Just because I have to escort you places doesn't mean that I'm going to be nice to you. I don't like you. Actually, I hate you. I hate who you are and who your parents are. I hate wherever you're from, and I hate what you look like. I hate your face and your hair and everything else about you. So don't think that just because I have to be around you means that I like you, or that I'm going to be there for you when I don't have to. Got it?"

Anya nodded quickly and said, "Yes."

"Good. Follow me." And off Draco was again with Anya on his heels. He turned to the left, then to the right, and then left again, completely confusing Anya. Finally, they came to a great common room where the rest of the Slytherins were. When they entered, she noticed the high ceiling, the green lanterns around the room, and the old almost nightmarish furniture. However, what she noticed the most of happened to be all the eyes upon her. Everyone in the room was simply watching her and Draco. No scowls, no sneers or giggles; just watching. Draco rolled his eyes and said, "The Slytherin common room is under the lake, which is why the color scheme is green and black. Green and silver are also our house colors. Come on." He led her to an intersection just into the room. To the left, there was one staircase, and to the right there was another. "Go to the right. That is where the girls reside. Your stuff should be on one of the beds. I will meet you here tomorrow at seven to take you to breakfast. I'm not sure where you go after that."

Anya looked back at Draco and smiled delicately, "Thank you very much Draco. I know you don't really want me here, but it means a lot to me that you're willing to show me around. You're very kind." And with that, she went up the stairs and into the living quarters.

Everyone, including Draco, stood still. Draco? Kind? Especially to a Muggle? This was a surprise in itself. Draco couldn't understand how she could say such a thing to him. And even after his speech about how much he hated her, how he led her down a dark stairwell despite her fear, and how he treated her at the table. She still called him…Kind?

The only thing Draco could do was glare at his fellow students, who shrunk away, and waltz upstairs. For the rest of the night, he would ponder how she found him even remotely kind. He made a note that in the morning, he would confront her, and what 'kind' meant to her.


	3. Chapter Three: Empathy?

The next morning, Draco was up bright and early just like every other morning. He did his toiletries and got dressed before everyone else awoke. He felt himself more productive than his fellow students if he was ready before them. In reality, the students didn't have to be down at the Great Hall for breakfast until nine in the morning, thus most awoke at eight. Draco had demanded Anya to meet him two hours before breakfast. However, for good reason! He needed to show her how to get to the Great Hall, and then take her to Dumbledore to figure out how to rid himself of her for the day while he was in his classes. So away he went, rushing to get ready so that he could stand there waiting for her with a cocky smirk on his face.

He was still tying his tie when he got to the bottom of the steps. He peeked up into the girls' passageway, and didn't see anyone coming. So he scoffed and leaned against the side of the door, posing, for Anya to emerge.

"Good morning Draco, how did you sleep?" came Anya's voice from the other side of the room. She had been looking at the books on one of the shelves when he came down, but wasn't noticed at first.

Draco jumped at her voice and glared at her, "What the hell are you doing here?!" He yelled, despite the snoozing students above him. Not that they would hear him through the stone floor, it was still rude for him to yell.

"…you told me to meet you here…"She said innocently.

"I mean, why are you so early? Don't you sleep in the Muggle world?"

"Well…Actually I just kind of woke up. You know, my bed it right next to the window. It's really beautiful outside! The sun is so bright this morning! I hope I get to go outside and see the grounds today." Anya was about to trail off to a list of other things she would like to see that day, but at Draco's scowl, she stopped and explained herself quickly. "I normally have to wake up at 5:30 back home…"

"That's ridiculous. Who in their right mind would wake up so bloody early in the morning?" He seethed, this girl was too much.

"Well. Back home at my other school, I'm in extracurricular activities and we practice early in the morning. Plus, I live in the country, so I have to drive a half an hour to get to school."

"I see. You're too poor to have a Portkey." Said Draco plainly. In some detail, a Portkey is a magical object that can teleport an experienced wizard to and fro a certain destination. (First mentioned in Goblet of Fire.)

"Is that some type of car?" Asked Anya.

"It's a damn object you fool!" He yelled, before gruffly taking her by the arm and pulling her out of the room. "I'm getting rid of you. How can you be so stupid? I'm not dealing with you for 6 months, no matter what Dumbledore says." And with that, he started to drag her down the long corridors towards Dumbledore's office. His initial plan was to show her around so she could find her way without his help. You know, a spark of kindness that he apparently had. But it was all pushed aside with her ignorance. Anya could only jog behind him in an attempt to stay afloat, but she was nervous. She didn't understand what she had said. However, when he roughly pulled her around a corner, thus twisting her skin, she abruptly stopped, pulling Draco to a stop.

"Look, I'm sorry! But you can't be angry at me for not knowing magic! I don't know anything about you or this school. Everything is new and scary to me! Please don't push me onto another student!" Anya said desperately at Draco's shocked face. Her cheeks were flushed and her chest was heaving when she had finished.

Draco slowly let go of her arm and stared at her blankly. "Why do you want to stay with me?"

"I don't know…I just do." She said back at him, with the same blank stare he was giving her. After what felt like hours between the two, she finally said, "So…Please don't get rid of me?"

Draco observed her for the first time. The reason he was doing so was just to build up suspense in her and make her feel so worthless that he actually had to debate on whether or not he wanted her around. But when he actually looked at her, and I mean actually looked at her, he realized that she was pretty. Her eyes were shaped in the way a doll's would be, she was thin but not in a sickly way, and because of her flurry of passion a moment ago, her hair had fallen around her in the most flattering way. "…Fine." He finally said.

Anya let her shoulders fall gracefully and she smiled at him. "Thank you Draco. I appreciate it. You know, you are a very nice boy when you want to be."

A glint went off in Draco's head. "Another thing! You called me kind! I'm not kind! I am the son of one of the most malicious men in the entire wizarding world! I told you I hate you! I'm a horrible person!"

Anya shrugged, "I don't think you're a horrible person."

"Well I am. Now come on, you." He finally said before he started to head down the corridor on the right. It was now 7:30, and if he didn't hurry, he was going to be late for breakfast. Anya followed him obediently with a smile on her lips.

After a while, and after many turns and stairs, Draco and Anya came to Dumbledore's office door. Before going inside, Draco turned around and looked at her. "I'm not getting rid of you. But I do need to know what to do with you when I'm in my classes." He didn't give her a chance to reply, for he quickly knocked at the door for permission to come in. The door opened magically, and Draco entered. Anya slowly walked behind him.

"Ah, Draco, Anya, it's nice to see the two of you this fine morning. It's the sunshine just stunning, Anya?" Said Dumbledore when he looked up at his visitors.

"Yes, Albus, I was just telling Draco the same thing before we left. Do you think I'll be able to go outside today?" Anya asked before Draco could step in to get down to business. At her haste, Draco rolled his eyes and looked away to observe the many intricate objects in Dumbledore's office. He wasn't in this office often, mainly because he didn't like Dumbledore. Well, his father didn't like Dumbledore, thus Draco didn't.

Dumbledore looked at Anya, and then moved his eyes to speak to Draco, who was absently tapping a glass piece of art. "Draco, don't you have a class near the lake today?"

Draco didn't think twice about his answer, "For my Arithmancy class, we're going outside to discuss the mathematics it took with magic to lay out the grounds of Hogwarts." He stated, still staring at another interesting object.

"Well isn't that convenient, Anya? Since you'll be shadowing Draco during his studies, you'll get to go where he goes. And today, you most certainly will be going outside with his class." Stated Dumbledore.

Draco turned around quickly and stared at Dumbledore, "You mean she comes with me during my classes?! How will I be able to pay attention? She'll distract me!"

"Now Draco, Anya can be professional. I'm sure she'll respect your passion for your studies. Now, it's about 8:30, how time sure flies. You two better head off to breakfast." Dumbledore said, as he opened his door from his desk and nodded for the two to leave. Draco sighed heavily and looked at Anya sternly before leaving the office. Anya smiled back at Dumbledore before leaving.

*******

When they finally made it to the Great Hall, they were right on time. Draco took his seat next to his friends, and Anya silently took her seat next to him. Just like the night before, everyone in the Hall seemed to be staring at the two. However, unlike the last meal, Draco didn't turn away from Anya rudely, but stayed parallel to her unless she spoke to him. The meal itself was fairly peaceful, and Anya ate quietly while Draco chatted it up with his buddies. Some of the other Slytherin girls commented on her dress, which she gladly accepted. Since Anya wasn't a student at Hogwarts, she didn't have to wear the same uniform that the other students had to wear. So instead she wore a flowy dress that ended just above her knees. The other girls, though fashionable in their own sense, were impressed, and couldn't help but discuss clothing with her.

One of the other boys, by the name of Blaise, leaned into Draco, "She's a pretty one, aint she? Too bad she's a dirty little Mudblood. If she was a real witch I'd consider her, wouldn't you?"

Draco glanced at Anya, who had stood up and allowed some of the other girls to look at a tag in the back to distinguish the maker of the dress. "She's alright." He couldn't pull himself to insult her in the same sense that Blaise did. For some reason, he didn't consider her all that worthless.

"I bet one of those Gryffindor boys falls for her. Who do you think it'll be? The only one that she's good enough for would be Neville." Blaise chuckled at himself while nodding to the poor Gryffindor, who was frantically trying out a spell—and failing.

Draco wrinkled his nose quickly, "I'm sure she could do a lot better than that joke."

Blaise smiled, "Who are you thinking of? You?" He started to chuckle. Draco's face started to twist up in disgust and revulsion towards Blaise, but before he could retort with something, the professors dismissed the students for their first class.

*******

Anya and Draco had attended all of his classed just fine. She didn't speak out of turn, but instead sat in the seat next to him reading a book while he paid attention to the class. However, throughout the entire day, Draco couldn't help but notice all of the stares he and his companion received. He didn't think of it, because it was the first day, and he expected it to diminish as time went on. However, little did he know, Blaise had started a betting pool on whether Draco and Anya would become a romantic couple. So the rest of the students all watched for any signs that could aid either side.

Finally, near the end of the day, it was time for Draco to go to his Arithmancy class. Anya was particularly excited because now she was able to see the grounds. So it was no surprise for Draco when she stared in pure admiration at the trees and the castle. He found it kind of amusing. In an ignorant Muggle sort of way.

When they arrived, Blaise waltz up to Anya without greeting Draco. "So my fair maiden, what do Muggles do for fun? What do you do for fun?" Draco narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Anya answered quickly, "Well I read in my spare time, or watch television, or go for walks outside. But I must admit, my home isn't as pretty as it is here."

"Oh how cute." He said before leaning close to her face, a wide smiled slowly crossed his face, "I curse people." Anya stepped back from him in alarm. The rest of the Slytherins started to laugh loudly.

Draco glared at Blaise and then took Anya by the arm, leading her to where the class was supposed to meet. "Ignore him. He's just trying to make you superstitious."

But Blaise couldn't relent. He ran up behind Anya and started to chant benign Latin rhymes into her ear, making her believe that he was cursing her. Draco grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away from him, stepping between the two, and stood glowering at Blaise. In reply, Blaise giggled, "Oh. Protecting your girl, huh?"

"She's my responsibility. If Dumbledore found out that I allowed her to become scared of someone as pathetic as you, he'll punish me. I'm doing my job. Leave her alone." Draco seethed out. He then pushed her along with him, continuing their walk to class. Blaise followed behind making kissing noises, and soon the rest of the Slytherin boys followed through.

Before the episode could get too worse, the teacher of the class finally emerged from the castle and started heading their way. All of the boys became silent and pretended to be innocent. The teacher didn't suspect a thing, and continued with the class as she normally would. However, throughout the entire class period, Blaise would glance at Draco and raise his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, distracting Draco more than Anya ever could.

*******

When the class was over, and all the students hurried in for free time before dinner, Anya asked Draco if he would walk her around. He agreed, only because he didn't want to see Blaise or his henchmen for a while. Even if it mean fueling the rumor, since they were alone.

"Who is that boy?" Anya asked, while kicking a stone along the pathway circling the castle.

"His name is Blaise. He's disgusting." Draco stated.

"He's very cute."

"He made fun of you."

"That doesn't mean he's not handsome. He's just not handsome on the inside." She said smiling, before stooping down to observe a flower. "This is really pretty. Will it explode or anything if I pick it?" She asked, looking up at Draco who became more at ease with her witty question.

Draco shook his head in amusement, "No, it won't. You may pick it." Anya did so, and then delicately pinched 3/4th of the stem off. When she was finished checking for bugs, she placed it behind her ear. Draco asked, "Are you always nice to people who are mean to you?"

She shrugged, "Well, I don't know. I think everyone can have good in their heart. You know, I agree with Anne Frank."

Draco's eyebrows twitched up, "Who?"

Anya stopped where she was and looked at him in shock, "You don't know who Anne Frank is? Have you been living under a rock?!"

"…Apparently." Was all that Draco could say in return to her flare-up.

"She was a young Jewish girl who was in hiding from the Nazi's during World War II. She died when she was 16 years old."

"Why did she die? What was wrong with her?"

"Nothing. She was a normal girl. But she was shunned because of her religion. The people who killed her thought they were better than her." At this statement, she looked squarely into Draco's eyes. Behind his irises, she could see a little glint of guilt. However, she didn't want to make him feel too uncomfortable, so she carried on, "Would you like to borrow my book about her and her family? I have it in my trunk."

Draco nodded slowly, "Sure. I guess…It's a true story?"

"Yes. It's very true. You'll learn more as you read." After a bit of sober reflection, Anya looked up at the sky and said, "It's getting dark. Dinner will be ready soon. Shall we go?"

Draco nodded and led her in the direction of the castle. In this journey, he couldn't help but ask, "Did anyone else die?"

Anya had long forgotten about the subject that was still on Draco's mind. So when asked, she looked at him with a questioned look, "What do you mean?"

"Anne…Did anyone other than she die?"

"Yes. Her sister and her mother. And about 6 million other people."

Draco's eyes widened a bit. "Just because they were second class? That's such a large number!"

Anya shook her head at him for a moment, "Yes. It's a dark part of our history." She kept walking for a little while, as did Draco, but she couldn't help but notice how Draco was still deep in thought. "Is something bothering you?" She asked.

"It just…Reminds me of something." He said quietly before glancing at her. "Will you teach me more about her? And what happened?"

Anya smiled softly. "Of course. It looks like we can learn a lot from each other." Draco could only nod and smile at her. He wasn't one to smile, but for some reason, the fact that she was willing to teach him something despite his previous rudeness to her, made him feel more at ease.

* * *

3rd chapter down. :) I hope you guys don't mind the reference to Anne Frank, or that I don't offend you. The plot that the Death Eaters have against the Muggles kind of reminded me of the Holocaust. Not so much the torture, but the fact that both Nazis and Death Eaters believe that their victims were of second, or worse, class. If I didn't do a very good job at writing about it, or if I offended anyone, then let me know and I'll rewrite the chapter. :) No big.


	4. Chapter Four: Preparation

During the next couple of weeks, it turned to autumn, then gracefully, to winter. Draco and Anya also stayed cordial with each other. She let him borrow The Diary of Anne Frank, which he read fervently. She then gave him a book about the Holocaust and Slavery, which he also consumed. During these months, between Draco's classes, Anya spent her time educating him on the faults of the caste system, and how it could harm other people. Draco was learning a lot. Blaise continued to pick on the two, but when he realized that Draco and Anya had yet to become romantically involved, he lost interest and soon left them alone. Anya had started to become accustomed to magic as well. Whenever she saw something that looked strange to her, she only had to look at Draco for an explanation. In return, he would go into deep detail on the incident, which she in turn listened to intently. Sometimes he would huff or glare at her if it was something completely obvious to him, but that tendency was slowly fading, and he was starting to understand that she couldn't help the fact that she knew…well…nothing.

Today, Draco was standing next to the window waiting for Anya when it started to snow. Despite being in the middle of the ocean as an island, Hogwarts still encountered the same weather as did England. Draco didn't think much of it, since he had seen it for more than six years. However, from the rapid tapping of Anya's shoes on the staircase, he could tell that someone else was excited.

"Draco! It's snowing!" She said as she jogged up to him. She hopped up to the tips of her toes and peeked outside with a smile on her face.

"Do Muggles not have snow?" Draco asked.

"We do. But it's always a magical moment when we get to see the first snow." She said before looking at him, however she stopped quickly, "Well you know…a magical feeling…" Anya said with a giggle before looking outside again. However, she didn't get to stand there for long. Draco tapped her back to indicate his leaving, and she quickly followed him. They were still early birds, so they were able to walk about the castle before breakfast. Anya noticed that Draco was turning in odd directions without thinking much. Something was on his mind.

Something was indeed on his mind. However, he couldn't find a way to talk about it. Instead of waiting too long, he decided to just open the conversation in the only way he knew how to get a girl excited, "This year Hogwarts is hosting the Yule Ball. It's a tournament year." He stated.

Anya stopped short and said, "Really? A ball that people can dress in pretty clothes? With music and dancing and everything?"

Draco's first step to his plan was completed. She was most certainly excited. "Yes. A real ball with dresses and dancing." He repeated back at her. He kept walking for a little while to let her day dream about the ball. There was a smile on her face that he was sure nothing could rid it of. After a while, he finally said, "Um…Dumbledore suggested we go together." Draco's nose wrinkled slightly at the thought. Sure, he was able to be nice to her and educate her on things of the wizarding world. However, the fact that all his friends were going to being their beautiful witch dates, and he was stuck with someone he felt was below him bothered him. He'd be the laughing stock of the entire Slytherin house as well, and he was not looking forward to it.

"Oh that sounds nice." Was Anya's only reply. She kept walking without even thinking about how uncomfortable Draco was.

"…It…Sounds nice? We're being forced to go together. Doesn't that bother you?"

"We're not being forced, we're being suggested." Anya said before stopping and turning to look at him, "Plus, you're the only person I'm close to. I don't mind at all."

"…We're close?" Draco's eyebrows knotted slightly.

Anya smiled at him in his discomfort. "Well, closer than Blaise and I could ever be. And if it wasn't you that I was going with, it would be Blaise."

Draco couldn't help but feel a ping of disgust go through him when she said that. He didn't think of it though, and decided to change the conversation, "Well just make sure to wear a dress that looks nice. I don't want to be embarrassed by my date."

Anya shook her head at him and started to walk to breakfast, "I'll wear a big puffy lime green dress. How about that?" She looked behind her to see his face twisted up in pure revulsion. She could only gently smile at him and continue walking. She played it cool for Draco, but on the inside she was ecstatic. She would spend the rest of the week-up until the dance-preparing her dress and planning her hair. Draco would do the same, but in a more manly manner.

Later that week, Draco took Anya to Hogsmeade for her dress. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, almost all the girls that had a date already were already at Gladrags Wizardwear, looking around for dresses of their own. Despite their obvious taste in socks, the shop offered gowns and dresses to students for the Ball. Usually the dresses were imported from Paris or some other branch of the store, and then sent away when the Ball season was over.

"Find something quickly, I don't want to stay in the village long. I'll be at Spintwitches." Draco said before turning around to leave the building, but was stopped abruptly by Anya.

"Where is that?" She asked nervously.

Draco pointed out the window, to the left, where there was a sign that had the name of the store painted on in calligraphy. "There. I'll see you soon." And with that, and a little huff, he stalked out of the store and into the whiteness of winter. Anya turned around nervously and looked around the store. A few girls, specifically Slytherin girls, were staring at her. They had heard that Draco and Anya were going to the ball together, but they found it odd that she was shopping at a wizard shop. However, they weren't able to stare at her long, because Hermione had walked up to Anya and took her by the arm.

"What? You've never seen a girl shop for a dress? Mind your own business!" Hermione seethed at the other girls before turning her attention to Anya. "Hello. I'm Hermione. We haven't met, but I believe I've seen you around the school."

Anya smiled, a little taken aback, but grateful nonetheless, "Hello. I'm Anya."

"Yes, I know who you are. All of Hogwarts knows who you are." Said Hermione, as she pulled Anya deeper into the racks of gowns, browsing.

"Is that…good?" Anya asked.

Hermione smiled and plopped all her weight on one hip, "Well, you are hanging around Draco Malfoy. It's pretty interesting that he's been so nice to you."

Anya thought for a moment and reviewed his initial distaste at the thought of showing Anya around Hogwarts. "How come?"

"Well, you know. Malfoy's family and stuff. They're not very keen on Muggles. I'm surprised his father hasn't come to Hogwarts himself to make you leave."

"His father? Does he not like Muggles?"

"Have you ever heard of the First Wizarding War?" Hermione asked slowly.

"No, I haven't…What happened?"

"Malfoy's dad was one of the people who killed Muggles…Muggles like you." Hermione whispered the last part because of another student that has approached. The subject was dropped immediately, but Anya couldn't help but wonder about Malfoy and his family.

During the rest of the time at the store, Hermione introduced Anya to Ginny and some of the other girls from Hogwarts, most of them in Gryffindor house. It was fun, but soon over when Anya found the dress she thought was perfect for her, paid, and left. Once outside, she found Draco standing near the door with a shopping bag of his own, waiting for her. "Hello! I hope you haven't been waiting long." She smiled, "I found a wonderful dress!"

"I've actually been waiting for quite a while. Is it that hard to find a dress for you?"

"Well I am the first one out of the store, remember?" Draco thought for a moment and let his stern face relax. She was right, and he couldn't be mad at her for too long. He started to walk down the path that would eventually lead them back to Hogwarts. The sky was completely white and there were thick fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky. Anya nuzzled her nose into her scarf and looked at Malfoy. He sure didn't look like the son of a murderer. At least, not at the moment. His face was stoic, calm, and overall harmless to her. She had seen him smile a couple of times, and thought that even though she was sure he came from a rich stuck-up family, she sure didn't think he came from a malicious one. She had heard him talk about his father only once, while yelling at her, but she knew he didn't remember it. After a while, and a couple of sneezes later, Anya decided to break the silence. "So..What is your father like?" She asked.

Draco didn't slow down in his pace or look at her, "He's very powerful, influential. A good man." His chin pushed itself a tad bit higher.

"…What is the First Wizarding War?" Anya asked.

Draco spun around and gave her a look of pure hatred. "How do you know about that? Where did you hear about it?"

Anya held up her hands in peace before answering, "I only heard some of the girls talking about it. They talked about it and then talked about your father. I don't know anything about it!" Draco stared at her for a long time before accepting her lie and turning to continue walking to the castle. She knew already that he wasn't going to talk about it, but at the same time, she still wanted to know more about it. For now, however, Draco Malfoy wasn't going to let her know any personal details.

The walk to the dorms was a long one, especially while carrying a gown the entire way. When they got home, they went their separate ways to their own rooms and settled for the night. Next Friday, Christmas day, was the day of the Ball. She was excited, yet nervous at the same time. She could only hope that it would be as magical as the school itself.


	5. Chapter Five: The Yule Ball

A week had passed, and today was Christmas day. All the girls of Hogwarts were busy preparing their hair, skin and bodies for the Yule Ball, and the boys were busy…well..not really caring much. The schedule for the day was simple. The students were told that they were going to have a special breakfast and lunch, then they were allowed to leave Hogwarts and go to Hogsmeade for last minute items.

Anya had spent the majority of her day in her room preparing for the big event. She had taken a long soak in one of the luxurious bathrooms in the Slytherin quarters. After her bath, she spent time primping and pampering herself to almost perfection. All that was left was the dress.

Draco had spent his day preparing also. A shower and some cologne.

Finally seven o'clock came around, and Draco was waiting by the staircase in front of the Great Hall. When one of the male dates noticed his own date was descending the stair, they would walk up and take her hand, and lead her to the Hall where they would commence with dancing and other festivities. Draco was wearing his traditional formal robes. His vest, tie, and undershirt were all white while his pants and jacket were black. His hair was left tousled as it always is, in preference to it being slicked back. He waiting alongside his fellow male classmates, watching dates meet up one by one. Harry had already found Ginny, and escorted her to the Great Hall. Hermione and Ron, with some bickering, had found each other and followed Harry and Ginny as well. Blaise has decided to ask Pansy to the ball, and they had met up already as well. Before heading into the Hall, however, Blaise made sure to have a short chat with his blonde haired friend. "Couldn't help but notice all the chatter. Your girl's a real looker when she cleans up, I hear. Too bad she can't clean that Mudblood blood of hers, huh?"

Draco rolled his eyes at his friend and gave him a sadistic look, "Don't you have a date to attend to?"

"I'll attend to her when I'm well ready. For now, I want to see that lass of yours." Draco was about to retort, however he wasn't given the chance. Anya had started descending down the stone staircase.

Anya was wearing a long red gown that was strapless and heart shaped at the top. In the middle of the bust of the dress, the fabric was lightly pinched and gathered so that the silk would gracefully fall over her stomach and hips. Her hair was in lose beach curls that fell around her shoulders and back. She wore only light make-up, most of it with pink undertones to bring out the pink in her skin and the warmth of the dress. Next to Draco, who's skin and wardrobe was below freezing, she was pure endearment. Draco was stunned, however not Blaise, "Not bad for someone like her." Blaise simply said before turning his attention to Pansy, who demanded to be escorted into the Great Hall, leaving Draco to Anya. When Anya saw her date waiting for her, she smiled and hurried down the steps to him. He held out his hand, which she accepted gracefully. He settled her slim arm over his, and lead her into the Hall. Before entering, he leaned down and whispered, "Thank you for not picking a lime green dress."

Anya smiled politely while nodding to one of the other girls who had greeted her before looking up at Draco, "They didn't have any." Draco sighed deeply and rolled his eyes before taking her hand in his to dance. Anya had never been so close to Draco before. When looking at him, and really looking at him, she couldn't help how handsome he was. His hair looked soft and well kempt, and it framed his eyes perfectly. His eyes were of a very light pale blue with little specks of silver it in, giving it the illusion of being a light grey. His skin was pale with pink undertones like Anya herself. His facial skin was smooth and hair and acne free. His facial structure itself was marvelous for Anya to observe as well. He had high small ears, a very strong jaw line, and a sharp strong nose. His mouth was taunt and straight, but his lips looked soft and almost poutish.

Anya looked at his lips for quite a long time apparently, because they slowly snaked into an arrogant smirk. "Like what you see?"

Anya blushed a deep red and looked down at his shirt instead of meeting his eyes. "Sorry." She said quickly before looking to her left at the other couples. She knew very well that Draco thought of her, and her entire kind, as filthy and worthless. He would never got for her, a Muggle.

Draco, still smirking, tightened his grip on her waist in a friendly manner, "I've forgotten to tell you that you look beautiful tonight."

Anya's stunned gaze fell upon him, "Really?"

Draco smiled at her, a genuine and kind smile, "Really." And with that, he swung her around quickly in an attempt to make her forget about the moment they shared. He didn't want to draw attention to them, especially from Blaise, who would have a field day if they acted like they liked each other. When Draco thought about it, the idea of him and Anya together, he had mixed feelings. She was beautiful, kind, and she was able to make him smile and calm him. She seemed to accept him as a human being, and didn't look down upon him or seethe about his family. What was especially nice was that she didn't seem to care about the nobility of the Wizarding word or other matters of its caste system, and seemed to try to get along with everyone. After living in a house with his father, the attitude of Anya was refreshing, and even nice. It also helped that she had the most perfect body, and he enjoyed dancing with it as , the downside was obvious. If he started up a relationship with her, he would be disowned from his family. His father and mother would never speak to him again, and he would be considered trash as well. He would never be able to come into power like his father had, and he would become poor. At that moment, Draco didn't really know if he wanted to give up all that comfort and luxury for, of all things, love.

Draco shook the thoughts from his head and decided to just focus having a good time with his date. When looking down at her, he realized that she was back to watching everything else that was happening around the room. He decided to also observe his fellow students. Majority of the students were dancing, but a few were sitting at tables with their dates as well. Particularly Ron, who seemed to be having a miserable time. This caused Draco to snort in amusement and roll his eyes, gaining a confused look from Anya. "Ron. That blood traitor." He simply said.

"What's a blood traitor?" Anya asked.

Draco was about to explain what it was, but he stopped himself. Because, well, technically, he was now a blood traitor. He grew up learning that a blood traitor was a pureblood that associated with non-magical beings. And since Draco was at the Yule Ball with a Muggle, he realized that that was a hell of a lot association. Draco looked down for a moment before looking into Anya's curious blue eyes. "It's a…a joke. Something about sports." Draco lied and looked around to see if anyone had heard. No one did.

Anya smiled, "Oh. Well as long as it wasn't something mean." And with that, she carried on with their dancing just like it had been going.

After a while, the two decided it would be a good time to take a breather and sit a while. Draco escorted her to a table, sat her down, and sent off to find something for them to drink. Anya wasn't along for long, however, because Blaise and Pansy came to sit down at the table also. "How's your first Yule Ball, M'lady?" Blaise said, leaning close to Anya's ear.

"Very nice, thank you. Draco is being an excellent escort."

"You like our fine castle then, my dear?" Blaise asked, much to the discomfort of both Anya and Pansy. "I couldn't help but notice you and my friend Malfoy taking a good look at Ron. He's quite the sight, isn't he?"

Anya gave him a confused look. "He doesn't look at that weird to me.."

"Oh, well normally blood traitors don't look too different from us. Unless you look at their attitudes and such. They seem to carry a type of, how you say, patheity about him. Wouldn't you say?" Pansy giggled at his comment.

Anya looked from Blaise to Pansy, "Blood traitors are pathetic?"

Before Blaise could tell her anymore, however, Draco has sat down in the chair between Anya and his friend, successfully blocking them from communication. He looked at Blaise with a stern glare, "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

Blaise smiled in a suggestive way, "Actually, we were just off, weren't we love?" He leaned over to Pansy who had risen her eyebrows at him, got up, and was prepared to leave when he was, "Ah, well I suppose she is. I'll catch you tomorrow morning, Malfoy." And with a wink, he and Pansy were gone.

Draco looked around the Great Hall and realized that majority of the couples were filtering out. Draco looked at Anya, who was in the middle of a large yawn, and got up slowly. "I suppose we should head off to bed also. Don't want to be the last couple here." He pulled out Anya's chair and helped her up before sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Can't we go look outside quickly? I'd like some fresh air." Anya asked quietly. Draco nodded and lead her to one of the bridges surrounding Hogwarts. It was only lightly snowing and the moon cast a blue light over everything they saw. Draco removed his jacket for Anya to wear for warmth, the last thing he wanted was for her to become ill.

Anya accepted gratefully and wrapped herself tightly inside it. It smelled exactly how she thought Draco would smell like. It smelled fresh and very clean, with a little hint of some spice, all of which she enjoyed. When she was done smelling, she ducked her nose out of the jacket and took a breath of fresh air. She smiled and leaned against the side of the wall and closed her eyes, relaxing for a moment. Draco watched her silently for a while before saying, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a nice time."

Anya opened her eyes and smiled to him, "I did. It was like some fairytale or something. It was magical." She looked down at the lake before them, thinking for a moment, before looking back up at him. "But Draco, you lied to me." She said softly.

Draco swallowed hard and looked at her, well past her, to avoid eye contact, "Yes. Because it would have offended you if I explained myself." He finally built up the courage to look her in the eyes, "And…I also realized that I'm a blood traitor as well."

Anya nodded in understanding and looked out into the lake again, but after a moment she looked back at Draco and smiled, "Well, it isn't so bad being a blood traitor, is it?"

Draco smiled at her, another one of his real smiles, "No. No, it isn't." Between the time of getting to the bridge and his last comment, Draco had taken a step closer to Anya. He was close enough now to completely observe her in the moonlight. The curls in her hair had flattened slightly during the night and her lipstick had worn off, but he still thought she looked beautiful. He stopped for a moment and realized that he only had complimented her all night. He took another step forward, successfully closing the gap between himself and his date, and said, "You do look stunning."

Anya's shoulders lifted slightly like she was being hugged, and her cheeks became rosy. A smiled graced her lips and she looked at Draco shyly. She had gotten plenty of compliments from the students of Hogwarts that night, however hearing one straight from Draco seemed to make her feel all warm inside. She smiled up at him, and by pure impulse, she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Draco's cheek. At first, Draco was taken aback, but almost instantly he relaxed and placed both his hands on her waist. He pressed his forehead against hers and looked down into her eyes. For the first time, he noticed that her eyes had little brown specks in the inside of the iris, and that the outside of her eyes were of a deep blue like the ocean. He liked her eyes, he liked looking into them and communicating with her through them.

He was about to completely close the gap, about to kiss her on the lips instead of settling for cheeks, when he heard something shuffle behind them. Draco whipped around, like he was preparing for battle, before letting out a large growl and allowed his shoulders to relax again. Standing behind them, for who knows how long, was Harry and Ron. Ron's eyes were wide and his mouth had formed a pathetic pout of confusion on them. Harry, on the other hand, was giving him a suspicious sharp look, almost as if he thought Draco was going to harm Anya in some way. Draco pushed himself away from Anya and glared at the two boys, "What are you two looking at?"

"Couldn't miss you two snogging away over here." Ron said blankly.

Draco's eyes narrowed and he turned his body to completely face them, "We weren't snogging. Don't you have some girlfriend to attend to?" Ron glared back at him for a moment, until he realized that, yes, Hermione had been left inside to wait for both him and Harry. After a quick, 'C'mon Harry' and a sneer at Draco, he and his best friend ran inside. The moment had been completely ruined. Draco looked down at Anya to see her gazing out into the lake, her eyes low, and her shoulders bent in slight disappointment. It would be no use to try to kiss her now anyway, for it was getting late and the professors were lurking around the hallways in search of couples showing public displays of affection. He sighed, "We better head back." Anya nodded and handed Draco back his coat, then followed him inside and to the Slytherin common room.

Once they were back, Anya took one last look at her date. Draco's hair had gotten a little messier on account of him running his fingers through it with frustration on the walk there. His lips were thin and stern, and his eyes darted around the room for any one else that might be creeping on them like Harry and Ron had. Anya smiled softly at him and opened the door to head up to the girls' part of the dormitories. Before she did, however, she said, "Thank you Draco, I had a lot of fun tonight." And with that, and a weak wave, she was off to bed. Draco growled and plopped himself in one of the leather couches in the room. He had almost kissed Anya. A muggle. Of all the things on the planet that could possibly enrage his family, he almost did it. And yet, it didn't seem as bad as he thought. When he seriously sat down and thought about what almost passed between him and Anya, he smiled. He touched his cheek where she had kissed and was amused to find that it was still warm as well. No, being with a muggle wasn't such a bad thing after all.


	6. Chapter Six: Interesting Year

The next Monday school had started up again, which meant that Anya was back to following Draco to all his classes. So they were both up a bit earlier than everybody else, like normal, and Draco was sitting in the common room waiting for her, also like normal. He was worried though. They had had a wonderful time together at the dance, and to make it all the better, they had almost kissed. He had spent hours in the common room thinking about it, and when he decided to go to bed, he laid there awake for even more hours thinking about it. Sure, he's kissed a girl, but he wondered with it would be like to kiss a Muggle. The feeling of her lips on his cheek was still there, still warm, still something that made him feel marvelous. And speaking of marvelous, he seemed to find himself adoring her bit by bit since the end of the dance. He even made a mental pro/con list on her, to see if she was eligible to date. Pros included how she looked, how kind she was to everyone, her smile, the way she dressed, her eyes with the brown specks in them. On the other hand, the only con he could think of was the fact that she wouldn't be accepted by his family or close friends. However, for right now, he was pacing up and down the side of the room waiting for her and debating inside of himself. He stopped only when he heard the light footsteps of Anya coming down the stone stairs.

Anya was wearing a long sleep blue dress, black tights to protect her legs, and a black sweater. Her hair was let loose for the day, and she wasn't wearing any make-up. However, Draco thought she looked stunning nonetheless. When she noticed him standing by the window, she smiled and walked over to him. They didn't embrace or hold hands or anything, they just looked at each other and started to head to Draco's first class.

Draco wanted to say something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of something to talk about. He could ask her what she thought of him, if she thought of him as someone she would want to date, but he felt it too soon to try to decipher their relationship. He couldn't talk to her about school and the classes since she didn't understand any of the classes he took. Normally Draco didn't speak at all while they were walking somewhere, and instead he would just allow her to babble on about something or another. But this morning he especially wanted to hear her voice, her laugh, and to see her smile. He was about to say something along the lines of, 'the weather looks nice' when she suddenly said, "I've been here for two months already…Sure doesn't feel like it."

Draco gave her a questioning look, "Do you want to leave already?"

Anya quickly shot her head up to look at him, "Of course not!" She smiled and looked down at her feet again, "Though..I sure miss my classmates back at home. They won't believe me when I tell them all the things I've seen."

Draco kept quiet for a while, allowing Anya's mind to wonder about how all her friends were doing, before he said, "Would you go home now if you could?"

Anya thought for a moment, a moment longer than what made Draco comfortable. "Maybe. For a week, you know. To see everyone and how they're doing. My goodness, I'm missing out on so much gossip…" She sighed and looked ahead.

Draco would have carried on the conversation, however they had made it to the Great Hall and were about to sit for breakfast. He waited until Anya had sat down and situated herself before he sat down. Across from them sat Blaise and Pansy, Blaise with his arm draped over her shoulders. Blaise and Pansy obviously were an item, and Blaise made it obvious by whispering to her and nibbling on her ear constantly, causing her to giggle. Anya shuffled uncomfortably in her place and Draco glared at them both, "Do you have to be snogging in the middle of breakfast?"

Blaise looked up from his girlfriend and allowed a sly smile to cross his lips, "Draco, my boy, are you frustrated because you're having troubled hooking your own girl?" He nodded straight to Anya, whose cheeks flushed quickly.

Draco and Anya looked at each other before looking away looked at Blaise again, "Just stop being disgusting when we're supposed to be eating." Blaise was about to snark out another comment, however the bell had rung indicating that the first period was about to start. All the students got up and shuffled to their respective classes.

Draco got up abruptly and headed to class with Anya close to his heel. Anya had to jog a bit to catch up with him, and when she did, she asked, "Did he really make you that angry?"

Draco stopped short and stared at her, "Well aren't you angry?"

Anya looked to the ground for a moment before looking at him again, "Well..Not really." Draco narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, telling her to explain, "Well, I mean…It's all in harmless fun, right? I know he was talking about you and I and picking on you, but, well I don't know, it only embarrassed me for a moment. I'm sure he didn't mean any real harm by it."

"That's just it, when he says things like that, in some way, he's trying to harm someone. He's not a good person, Anya, and he finds pleasure in hurting people." By now, they were entering the classroom and taking their seats. More and more students were filing in and taking their seats, effectively ending the conversation between Anya and Draco. The teacher came in, lectured, and started off with the lesson.

After a while, the students were told to open their journals and practice various equations and spells that they were to memorize. During these times, Anya normally pulls out a book and reads as to not disturb Draco in his work. She did so today. When she knew that the teacher was away from them, and when the students were too immersed in their work to listen, she said, "There's good in him, I bet. Just like there's good in you." Draco looked over at her slowly, and when they finally met eyes, there was a smile on her face. A gentle smile that implied she was being friendly with him. Draco let a large breath leave him and he started to relax. He smiled at her before going back to his work. The funny thing was that he kept smiling. He smiled all the way through the lesson, while they walked to their next class, and even during the entire class period. He only stopped smiling when he was asked to answer a question, in which he put on a serious face so that the other students wouldn't become suspicious of something he already knew. The question was, does she know? Does she want to know?

During the rest of the day, Draco seemed relaxed and content. All the classes were now over and they were now heading to the Great Hall for supper. However, they were stopped by Snape. Instead of looking at Draco, he address Anya, "It seems Dumbledore wants to see you in the headmaster's office. If you would be so kind as to follow me, I'll escort you while Mr. Malfoy continues on to supper…" Draco opened his mouth to protest the separation from Anya, however Snape intervened by saying, "Dumbledore specifically said that he only wanted Anya to see him at the moment. After you are finished with your meal, Mr. Malfoy, you may retrieve her from his office. Anya." At the sound of her name, Anya perked up and started to follow Snape down the hallway. She looked back at Draco to see him standing in the middle of the hallway without here, his eyebrows furrowed, his lips tight. She smiled softly and waved at him before turning her attention to Snape to start a light conversation. Draco shook his head. She would start a light conversation with Snape.

Draco headed off to supper and sat down with a large thud in his seat. Blaise looked up from Pansy's neck and gave Draco a questioning look, "Where's your girl?"

"Dumbledore's." Draco simply said. He didn't even try to fight with Blaise about his girl comment, only looked at the table waiting for the food to appear. The faster the food was there, the faster he could eat, and the faster he would be able to make it to Dumbledore's. Blaise raised his eyebrows at Draco before shrugging his shoulders and continuing feasting on Pansy instead of the food in front of him.

After eating all of his meal, Draco excused himself from the couple and started down the hallway to Dumbledore's quarters. After a lot of walking, and a lot of flights of stairs, he finally made it to the door of Dumbledore's office. Draco had been in Dumbledore's office before that night, however he always became bitter and nervous when he had to. He hesitated for a moment before finally knocking on the massive door. It opened magically opened for him and allowed him to enter.

The first thing he saw was Anya, who had stood up to greet Draco. She was in the middle of the room facing Dumbledore's desk, in which Dumbledore was comfortably sitting behind. Anya was smiling at him, telling him a nonverbal 'hello' to put him at ease. Draco walked completely in and gave Anya a one over to make sure she was safe. When convinced, he looked at Dumbledore to wait until he started to talk. Dumbledore stood up from his desk and started to speak while walking, "Glad you could join us, Draco. How was supper?"

Draco stared at him for a moment, becoming slightly frustrated, but answered anyway, "It was fine…"

Dumbledore stopped pacing and decided to talk to Draco directly, "I suppose you're wondering why I called Anya here." Draco nodded. "Well, you see, earlier today I received news that I was going to have a visitor that wanted to meet Anya. He seemed to have caught word that a young Muggle was spending a lot of time with you and became quite curious. He's very close to you, Draco."

Draco gave Dumbledore a questioning look and looked around the room for the visitor. He was about to give up and ask Dumbledore who on earth was here to visit him, however before he could he finally found him. In the corner of the office, in a shadow, looking at some books of Dumbledore's, stood a man in all black. In his right hand was a walking stick that was slowly tapping the floor in some melancholy rhythm. He had the same blonde hair as Draco, only his was let down and cut completely symmetrical. He turned around to reveal that he was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. Lucius let a cold smile cross his lips at his son, "Draco, my boy, it seems you've had quite an interesting year here at Hogwarts…"

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Cliff hanger! :) K. Bye!


	7. Chapter 7: Happy

Draco didn't say anything. Instead, he looked from Anya to his father. The only thoughts that were entering his mind included a lot of yelling, some disgrace, and a little disappointment. What was he going to tell his father? What had Dumbledore said to his father? What had Anya said to his father? Lucius took a deep breath and looked to Dumbledore, "Mr. Dumbledore, wouldn you mind if I had a private talk with my son?"

Dumbledore nodded, "I was about to recommend the same thing. It seems Anya here hasn't had her supper. We'll head down to the kitchen for a snack, shall we Anya?" Dumbledore walked over and offered his arm to his niece, which she gratefully accepted.

Anya looked back at Draco for a moment and gave him a smile before looking to Lucius, "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Malfoy." Her voice was quiet, as if she didn't know if she really should be talking to him or not.

Lucius gave her a fake smile, "The pleasure is all mine, my dear." And with that, Dumbledore and Anya were gone. Lucius waited until he was sure that no one was lurking behind the door before looking back at his son, whose throat and jaw were tight. "She's pretty." He walked around Dumbledore's office and picked up a random book, opened it, and read the dedication nonchalantly, "for what she is."

"She was assigned to me by Dumbledore. I didn't have a choice." Draco said slowly. Despite his father's coolness, Draco was on edge.

"Oh I know. Dumbledore told me all about it." He put the book down and looked at his son, "He also told me how you borrowed Muggle books from her, took her to the Yule Ball, and overall you have spent a fair amount of time with her."

"I told you, I had to. Dumbledore told me to."

"You didn't have to. You could have contacted me and I would have been able to get her off of your hands." For the first time in the conversation, Lucius looked directly into the eyes of his son. He looked at Draco for a long time, analyzing him, watching him squirm, "But you didn't want her off your hands." Draco looked away from his dad, his head low, and eyes narrow. As much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't. Anya was a delight and he knew it. Lucius walked over to Draco and used his walking stick to force Draco's chin up, so that their eyes were meeting, "You've disgraced your family."

Draco looked at him coldly, "It doesn't feel like I disgraced anyone."

Lucius took in a deep breath of anger, "You don't FEEL like you disgraced anyone? You've disgraced me, your mother, your entire heritage! You've poisoned yourself! And if this persists, you'll poison your children. Do you understand that? The Malfoys have been pure for centuries and you're going to ruin your family honor!" He didn't allow Draco to defend himself, for he took the back of his right hand and swiftly slapped Draco across the mouth. Lucius hair was tussled, his eyes were bloodshot, his throat was sore from the yelling. With his hand still in the air, he stopped short and stared at Draco in shock. He had always been stern with Draco, however he never actually used physical violence against him.

Draco's mouth had a cut on it; his cheek was red. He stared at his father for a long time, allowing Lucius to completely see the damage he had done before he spoke, "If that's what you call 'family honor', then maybe I don't want to be apart of your family." And with that, and a final glare, Draco left Dumbledore's office. He didn't go to the cafeteria to fetch Anya like he had originally planned, he instead went to the Slytherin common room. Majority of the students were already in their quarters preparing for sleep, so he was alone. He sat down in one of the black leather couches and stared into the moon, thinking about the events that happened today. The beginning of the day, with Anya, with classes, was wonderful. It was interesting how the course of the day could completely change.

He was sitting in that couch for quite a while before he heard the familiar pitter patter of Anya near the door. Soon she was in the room glancing around for him. She saw the back of his head and called out a timid 'Draco?'. He held up his hand to indicate that he was, in fact, the person she was looking for. She walked over and looked at his face for only a moment before she gasped. "Draco! What happened? Are you alright?" She didn't give him a chance to answer because she ran upstairs to fetch a washcloth and warm water. She was down again and sitting next to him. She attempted to dab away the blood, but he turned his head away in refusal. He wouldn't make eye contact with her. She looked at him for a long moment, "It's my fault, isn't it?"

"No. It's his fault." He said quietly.

Anya scooted closer, so that her head was parallel with his shoulder. After some silence, she reached over again and attempted to clean the blood off of his mouth. He complied this time, only moving his face about a centimeter in her direction for her ease. They didn't talk for a long time. The blood had traveled from his mouth to the bottom of his chin, and Anya went slowly because of the bruise that had formed on the bottom part of his cheek. If she pressed to hard, she received a sharp hiss of pain from him. But he never moved away. Instead, he moved his face so that he could watch her. Their faces only a couple inches apart, his eyes watching her every movement, all of this making her nervous. When she was finished, she put the washcloth behind her and looked back at him. He hadn't moved, his face hadn't changed, he only sat there, staring at her. Anya was about to say something about how late it was getting, but instead he moved in and lightly kissed the square of her jaw line. She froze and sucked in her breath suddenly, but she didn't pull away. Draco took this an 'okay', and kissed the middle of her cheek. Then he kissed closer to her mouth, only an inch away from his goal. Before he kissed her lips, however, he looked her in the eyes for a moment, just to make sure she was comfortable. She smiled softly and him and allowed her eyes to flutter close.

He kissed her gently on the lips and pulled back slowly. Her lips were soft, almost like velvet, and warm. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that her eyes were still closed, a smile on her face, her cheeks lightly flushed. He moved his arm so that it was around her waist and lifted her chin to kiss her again. And again. And again. Each time the kiss becoming deeper and with more movement. Finally, her hands were resting on his chest and his hand cupping her cheek, while his arm gently pulled her as close to him as she could possibly get. For the first time, he realized that she smelled of strawberries and wild violets, how small her waist was, and how perfectly she fitted against him. In those moments, he knew inside himself that he wanted nothing more than to make her happy and keep her safe.

After awhile, and much kissing and smiles later, Draco pulled away slightly and looked at Anya. Her lips were of a deeper pink than before because of all the kissing, her hair was tussled slightly, for he had been running his fingers through it, and her chest was heaving up and down slowly. After a moment, Anya's face pulled itself into confusion, "What about your family?"

Draco leaned over to place a kiss on her lips again before answering, "I'm not worried about my family right now. I'm only worried about you."

"Oh.." She said softly, "I'm doing fine. How are you?"

Draco smiled at her with one of his genuine smiles, "Happy."

They stayed seated on the couch for another hour, talking, kissing, and just being with each other. Eventually Anya let out one of her yawns and looked at Draco with regret, visually apologizing for having to go to bed. He only smiled and kissed her one more time-actually two more times- before watching her ascend the staircase up to her quarters. When he stopped hearing her feet puttering around above him, he allowed himself to relax in the couch. He had just made out with Anya, and even though he had renounced his family's honor, he felt like he had done the right thing. He had found somebody that made him happy, and in his mind, that was a lot more important than molding to the outlandish standards of his family. Draco took in a deep breath and stood up from the couch and stretched before heading up into his own room to turn in for the night. That night Draco and Anya both slept with smiles across their lips.

* * *

I'm gone for the week. But I thought you all would like to read this chapter now instead of waiting a week. :) Please review and tell me how I'm doing. Not only with the story but how it's written and how I portray the characters. Hope you all like it!


	8. Chapter 8: Letter

The next morning Draco was sitting in the common room waiting for Anya. He had spent the night thinking about her. Her smile. Her lips. And it was finally after his entire body gave out that he decided to fall asleep. He could only guess how Anya was doing and what she was thinking.

She was late.

He didn't realize it until it was about 10 minutes later than the normal time of when she would come down. He had glanced at the clock out of boredom and habit, and sure enough it showed that she was 10 minutes late.

Well he couldn't very well walk up into the girls' room and look for her. He would be suspended from the common room. So instead he waited until another Slytherin girl walked down. He approached and asked if she'd seen Anya. The girl said she had, and that Anya had left the girls' room earlier in the morning. Draco thanked her and rushed out of the room.

She wasn't in the Great Hall eating breakfast. She wasn't with Dumbledore, for the head master had left on an errand. She wasn't even hanging around in the gardens. He wasn't able to look for her for long, however, because he was quickly ushered to class by one of the professors.

He spent the first half of the day alone and wondering until he ran into Dumbledore. Draco saw him sitting right outside of the Great Hall, observing one of the moving paintings. Actually, the old man was having a rather passionate conversation with the subject of the painting. Draco didn't catch the actual topic, and in fact, he didn't much care. What he cared about right now was where Anya was at. He approached Dumbledore and waited to be noticed. The painting stopped talking and glanced down at the boy, causing Dumbledore to do the same, and then exclaim, "Ah! Draco my boy! Anything I can help you with?"

"Do you know where Anya is today? I haven't seen her…"

"You've grown quite fond of young Anya, haven't you?" Dumbledore glanced at the painting to explain, "Young love, isn't it grand?" The painting nodded in agreement and started to talk about his one true love that he met back in the 1800's.

Draco rolled his eyes in exasperation and stepped between the painting and Dumbledore, "Sir, could you just tell me where she is?"

"She's back in America." Dumbledore said quietly, looking over at Draco's fallen face, "Her parents came home early from Africa and requested for her to be home today."

Draco stared at the headmaster for a long time before he spoke again, "She's…gone?"

"Yes, my boy. Her bed has been emptied and her belongings have been taken away. Didn't she tell you? She found out last week." Draco shook his head numbly. "Well I suppose not. She's never been one to tell bad news." With that, Dumbledore reached into one of the folds of his robe and pulled out a vanilla colored envelope, "She wrote you something, however." He gently placed the envelope in Draco's outstretched hand and bowed to the painting before looking back at his student, "Have a nice day, Draco." And he was gone.

Draco stuck the letter in his own robes and walked briskly to his room. He only had dinner next and he supposed he could skip that for a letter. Once in his dorm, and sure that no lurkers were around, he opened the letter and began to read.

_Hello Draco, _

_By now I'm sure you've realized that I'm not at Hogwarts anymore. You see, last night after your father left, my parents contacted Dumbledore and asked for me to come back home. They were sent home early because of some accident that happened while they were in Egypt. This morning Dumbledore sent someone up to get me. They wouldn't let me say goodbye to you. _

_I'm not sure what my family is going to say in regards to you and me. And I don't know if they're going to allow me to come back to Hogwarts. I hope you're not mad at me or my parents. This was really sudden and I didn't know what I could do. I want to see you again though. Dumbledore has my home address, so maybe you could visit me sometime?_

_Again, I'm sorry. _

_-Anya_

Draco started down at the letter for a long time. There were two thoughts that were whizzing through his head. The fact that Anya was gone, and the idea of going to the Muggle world and seeing her. His father would destroy him if he found out that his son went to the Muggle world.

But he wanted to see her.

He walked out of his room, past the Great Hall, and straight to Dumbledore's office. He knocked quickly on the door and waited until it opened for him. Inside, Dumbledore was standing by the window gazing out into the night sky. He didn't turn around, but some how he knew it was Draco standing behind him, so he went ahead and said, "I haven't seen my sister and her husband for the longest time. I thought it would be nice to see them this weekend."Dumbledore turned around and looked at Draco, "I was hoping for some company. Would you like to come with me Draco?"

"To…The Muggle world?" Draco asked. Dumbledore nodded. "Well then yes."

Dumbledore smiled at him, "Then we'll leave Friday evening."


	9. Chapter Nine: Winter Postcard

For the duration of the week, Draco was in a bit of a daze. He went to his classes and went to dinner, like he was supposed to, however he couldn't stop thinking about Friday and the Muggle world. What was it going to be like? Was it going to be clean? What was Anya's parents going to be like? Would they be nice to him? Look down on him? Have they heard about the caste system in the Wizarding world, and his family being almost on the very top? Most Muggles that have knowledge of the Wizarding world and Hogwarts know about You-Know-Who, and his followers, including prominent families that agreed with his radical views. Would they know…?

Dumbledore had told Draco that he was to meet him in his office after dinner, to which they would travel from Hogwarts to London, the bridge between the two worlds, and finally from London to America. They were going to travel on the same type of train of which the students travel on when going to Hogwarts, the only difference is that it was going to be in the sky, crossing the Atlantic, invisible to the Muggle eye. "It's going to be about a two day trip, assuming there isn't any traffic."

"Sir…There isn't any traffic in the sky…"

"Oh my dear boy, you'd be surprised at how many young wizards like to fly above the heads of their Muggle counterparts. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if we encountered another train like ours, or a boat, or a dragon. All of which we will see, but the people down below will not."

"Does Anya's parents know about us coming?"

"They know about me coming." Dumbledore's eyes danced with amusement at the pure horror, the fear, that crossed his pupils eyes, "I thought it'd be best not to inform them of you quite yet. They might pressure Anya into saying something you don't want her to."

Draco puffed out his chest, "I have nothing to hide." He said sternly, glaring at the headmaster in defiance.

"There's still a bit of red under your eye from which your father hit you. We'll just say that you got beat around a bit during Quidditch." Dumbledore said before turning around to gather his bag and his wand. Draco lightly touched his cheek and realized that he was, in fact, very much defeated. Dumbledore was right. Anya would spill if her parents, or anyone for that matter, pressured her too much. She was just like that. Open. Honest. Draco smiled. Enduring.

Dumbledore cut him out of his thoughts, "We need to inform your parents of where you are going, Draco."

Draco snapped his head to the headmaster and quickly said, "NO! We can't! If they know then my father will surely come and find me in America. He might hurt Anya. And he'll complain to the Ministry of Magic about you!"

Dumbledore smiled, "That's why I've sent a notice on your behalf requesting that you say in Hogsmeade with your friends for the weekend." He handed the paper to Draco, who looked at it and noticed the over-exenterated signature of his father on the parental permission line. Draco was good to go.

The ride from Hogwarts to London on the train was a little awkward, mainly because there were other students on the train as well. Majority of them Ravenclaw students, who had been requested home for some reason or another. They all stared at Draco as he sat by Dumbledore. The pair was an odd sight, that was for certain. Draco felt uncomfortable as well; squirming in his seat and glancing at his companion before quickly glaring at the other students to divert attention. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was quite at ease. He didn't move, just watched the scenery go by quickly. Only a couple of times did he turn his head to look at Draco, smile, and them go back to his own mind. Once they got to London, Dumbledore and Draco ate at one of the cafes near the train station of which the Hogwarts train stops at. While sitting at one of the tables, Dumbledore looked around the café before looking at Draco, "There are Muggles here, now. Can you tell who they are?"

Of course Draco could. "Of course I can."

"They're the ones who are wearing Muggle clothing. We need to get you some that look similar. Or else you'll stand out. Better yet, we need to get you something American boys seem to wear."

"And what about you? Are you just going to walk around wearing your floral robes?" Draco sneered quickly at his teacher.

Dumbledore smiled at him, "No one can see me. They can only see you."

So after they ate, Draco went to one of the clothing stores to buy Muggle clothing. Despite his infatuation with Anya and his acceptance of her clothes and other small Muggle trinkets she owns, he couldn't help but scowl at the clothing he saw. All of it looked so out of place and odd to him. He settled for a white long-sleeved button up shirt, a sweater vest, and a pair of nice black pants, all in Slytherin colors. He got some other clothes as well, some new shoes, and a normal looking bag to carry it all-one that didn't have the Hogwarts logo on the front.

Once finished, the two got onto the train that would carry them from London to America. The train was just the same, however the colors were a bit different and of course it felt different- since they were in the air and not on tracks. There was less noise, of course, and the ride was a lot smoother as well. The ride was about 10 hours, so Draco made himself comfortable and fell asleep. When he awoke, Dumbledore was still sitting to his left like he had been for the entirety of the trip, but the skyline had changed dramatically. When they left London, it was noon, but from the looks of the sky around him, Draco could tell that it was sunset, and thus, he had been sleeping for about 7 hours. Give or take one or three, due to the time differences. He moved and stretched to loosen his muscles and looked at Dumbledore, "How long until we get there?"

"Not long. When we get to America, we'll have to use a portkey to get from the stop to where Anya lives."

Draco nodded for a moment and looked outside of the window, but before he could become completely comfortable, he flipped his head back to look at his teacher, "Why didn't we use a port key from Hogwarts to Anya's?"

Dumbledore didn't answer, but instead stood up and prepared for the stop. Draco followed his lead and waited until the train jerked suddenly and started to head down to the ground, head first, at maximum speed. It stopped short right before it hit the ground and become level with it, allowing the passengers to pick up their luggage and prepare for departure. Once on the ground and in the station, Draco and Dumbledore headed outside. They were in the middle of Las Angela's, in the middle of a deserted alleyway. It was now twilight out, and Draco stood staring at the new world around him. Dumbledore looked from his surroundings to his student, "We're in the middle of Las Angela's, a large city in America. We need to get to South Dakota."

"What's a South Dakota?"

"It's a state in America, Anya lives on a farm with her family." Dumbledore pulled out a port key and held it out for Draco to take, also. "You'll see it soon. It's quite beautiful if I do say so myself. They have this lovely Victorian home and a river that runs through their property. It's not Malfoy Manor, but it's homey nonetheless." Dumbledore looked at the clothes Malfoy was wearing, and quickly pulled the port key away from him, much to the annoyance of his pupil, "You're going to need your winter clothes. South Dakota is pretty chilly." Draco pulled out his winter robe and put it on quickly before finally taking hold of the port key and allowing himself and his headmaster to be transported across the nation.

In the next moment, Draco found himself in the middle of a great snowy plain, with nothing around him but darkness, a few soft snowflakes, and in the distance, a small farm. Dumbledore started his way towards this farm, not even indicating to Draco to follow. However Draco did, with no complaints, and pulled his robe closer to him for warmth. They were on a road, so the snow around Draco's feet only reached about a couple of inches above the bottom of his shoes, but around him, in the ditches and around the grass, the snow was a good knee deep.

When they started to approach the farm, Draco got a better look of the house of which Anya lived. It was like a postcard. Like a very cold, Christmasy country postcard. There was a large white Victorian house, just like Dumbledore had told him. The house had two massive stories that towered over the land of which Anya's family owned. It had a wrap around porch for those summer morning brunches, and at the very top of the house there sat a tower-with the light currently on. Next to the house there was a big red barn, just like the movies and picture books. The doors and windows of this barn were completely closed and covered with blankets and other soft materials for the warmth of the animals that lived inside. The paint was starting to peel off, however, and on one side there was a burn on the wood of the barn, indicating that there was a fire in that part of the property some time ago. The whole property was surrounded by a little white picket fence-one of which only traveled up to about the knee. Other than that, Draco couldn't see anymore of the property. There was some corn and other vegetables around the property, but he didn't see them. And somewhere there was a bike, a few lone toys, and farm tools that had been forgotten in the Autumn, but Draco didn't see these. Dumbledore didn't pay attention to any of the details that Draco was, since he had seen Anya's home many times before this. He just continued to walk and walk and walk until finally they were walking up the steps of the home.

Dumbledore looked down at Draco, who was looking at the porch quite nervously. "Remember, they don't know you're coming yet, and neither does Anya. Be respectful, young man."

"I know how to be respectful, old man." Draco spit out and glared down at his shoes. He wasn't here to be nice to Dumbledore, he was here to see Anya. Hopefully, she'd be happy to see him as well. Dumbledore didn't pay his comment any heed, but instead just knocked on the door. The door opened quickly, and there stood Anya for only a moment before she had her arms wrapped around Dumbledore. "Hello!" She yelled cheeringly into his ear. He allowed her to hug, but then gently placed her on the ground. Anya smiled at him for a while before, slowly, she turned her head and her eyes become connected with Draco's. The next word that came out of her mouth was soft and quiet, "Draco…"


	10. Chapter Ten: Dinner

She looked beautiful. She was wearing a dress, of course, but in the cold weather it was a cozy one. It was a long sleeved red dress that had a v-neck, which showed off her collarbone. The dress was short, down to her knees, but she wore black tights underneath. Draco smiled. He couldn't help it, even if she didn't want to see him, her still smiled.

She smiled back.

Phew.

Anya let go of Dumbledore and jumped into the arms of Draco. She was light and soft against him, just like he had remembered the night they had kissed. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and buried his nose into the crook between her neck and her shoulder. She smelled like her normal scent and the smell of a very large and hearty dinner, of which the scent had become attached to her clothes during her meal. Her arms were around his own waist tightly, and her head a buried into his chest-she wasn't tall enough to reach his neck and shoulder.

Dumbledore smiled and walked passed them into the house to greet her parents. The faces of her parents were of confusion and bewilderment, so they looked to their brother for an explanation, "Anya has become quite close to one of the boys at Hogwarts."

Anya's father, who knew of the Wizarding world and it's make up, looked at Draco with concern, "He's wearing Slytherin colors." Dumbledore just smiled and nodded, then followed Anya's mother into the dining room to sit down for the dinner that was waiting for him and the family. Anya's mother quickly set a new place for Draco as well, but sat him on the opposite side of the table.

When the young couple was finished, they came back inside and took their respective seats. Anya's father motioned for everyone to dig in, and they did. It was only after a couple of minutes of silence that Anya's father looked up from his plate and looked at Draco, "So, Draco, how did you meet Anya?"

Draco looked up from his dish, "Dumbledore-Professor Dumbledore-assigned me to show her around Hogwarts on her first day."

"You know she's a muggle, don't you?"

"Yes, sir, I do know."Anya's father looked from his clothing, for he was still wearing his Hogwarts cloak, and his blond hair, to his grey eyes and facial structure, "Draco, what is your last name?"

"Malfoy, sir."

"Oh." Was all that was said of Anya's father before he looked at Dumbledore sternly, then continuing with his food.

The remaining time at the dinner table was filled with awkward small talk and silence. The family and the two wizards ate quickly and started to head in the living room for dessert, of which Anya's mother made. It was chocolate cake with ice cream on the side. Anya, Draco, and Anya's mother all sat down and started to each their food, however Anya's father and Dumbledore went into the den.

"How could you get her involved with that family? Do you know how furious Lucius will be when he finds out that his son has been spending so much time with a muggle? And what his leader will say? Or worse, what he'll do?" Anya's father started to pace around the room. He started to run his fingers through his hair roughly, but stopped to look out the window. Both of Anya's parents were Muggles, however they had a very clear knowledge of the Wizarding world. During the First War that her father started to really understand the darker side of Albus' world. He also knew very well that Draco's father was a part of it, though he knew the Malfoys would never admit to it. So it was understandable that he was a little uneasy about his daughter being with Draco.

"I'm confident to say that Anya is very much safe with Draco and I as well as very safe at Hogwarts." "But is she safe here? In the Muggle world?"

"I trust you will keep your daughter safe if harm does arise."

"I can only be with her for so long. She has school to go to, activities with friends, and she does this all alone. A wizard-especially a powerful Dark Wizard-could easily find her and harm her. Didn't you think of that? Didn't you think of what could happen to her when no one is around? And didn't you think that maybe Draco isn't what he's saying he is?"

"You don't trust Draco?"

"Of course not!" The vein on Anya's poor father started to inflame itself. He paced back and forth for a while before looking out the window again-the vast coldness of the winter putting him on edge almost as much as the Wizarding world.

Dumbledore approached his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder, "Do you trust Anya?"

Meanwhile, Anya and Draco had been sitting in the living room with Anya's mother, Caroline. Each had their own mug of hot chocolate by now. After a while, Caroline looked to the young couple, then to the den where her husband and brother and law were speaking amongst themselves. She stood up, straightened her dress, and looked to her daughter, "Anya, honey, why don't you give Draco a tour of our home? I'll check on your father." And she left.

Draco sat still for a long time before he realized that the last time he had seen her beautiful face was when they first kissed. "Anya…" He said quietly, but she got up and grabbed her hand and led him away somewhere deep into the house. She wasn't giving him a tour, she was leading him somewhere specific. They went up the stairs, but passed each and every single room before they got to the closet door. She opened it, moved the coats aside, and walked inside. Draco followed, and found that there was another staircase leading up to the top of the house. It was like a tower, all the way to the very top, and at the top, there was a little room with chairs and a table and a lot of books laying across the floor. The windows were on each wall of the little tower, letting in the crisp moonlight from that night, but Anya also decided to turn on the lights of the room as well. After a good look, Draco realized that they were in Anya's own special room, a type of study, where she could be alone. "Won't you get in trouble for bringing me up here with you alone?"

"No, my mother knows how important this room is to me, and the doors are all open, she knows we're up here. She won't be angry. It's either a room with a lot of books and chairs or my other room with a bed."

"Oh…They trust you a lot, don't they?"

She smiled and looked at him, "Yes, they do. I appreciate it too." She took a seat on the couch near the window, and motioned for him to come and sit down next to her. He did so, made himself comfortable, and prepared to listen to what she had to say, because it was obvious she was going to say something. "I'm sorry for leaving Hogwarts like that. I bet you were angry."

Draco moved over closer to her and gently rested his forehead against her's, "I'm a very angry person, but I don't think I could become angry with you."

She smiled at him and buried her head in his shoulder. He smelled just like she remembered, and he felt just the same. They had only been apart for a little over a week, but to her it felt like so much more. She felt safe with him, even though deep down she knew she wasn't. She looked from Draco to the window, then back at him for a moment, "Draco, you like me, right?"

"Yes. What kind of question is that?"

"Well…" She moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, "I don't think my dad likes it very much…"

"Neither does mine."

She nodded slowly and closed her eyes. And in a dreamly voice she said, "Tomorrow…I'll show you around tomorrow…Would you like that…?"

Of course, poor Draco couldn't answer, because she had already fallen asleep against him. He grabbed a nearby blanket and covered the both of them with it before settling back into the couch. He whispered quietly, "Anywhere with you…" And with that, he fell to a peaceful sleep.

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A bit boring, I know, but it's a chapter that needs to be done for the formation of the story. :) Sorry these are so far apart, university has started! Also, some people found some errors that I made. I thinl I've fixed them all. Feel free to point out any errors that I have made-since these stories will be on the Internet for years and years, it's good to find these mistakes while the writer is still active. Thanks guys! :)


	11. Chapter Eleven: Pure Enough

Draco would have had a peaceful sleep. Draco would have enjoyed to spend more than a couple hours holding Anya in his arms. Draco would have been more than happy to wake up the next morning to see her smiling up at him. But unfortunately, Draco got none of these.

Draco was awoken by a loud crash outside of Anya's home. He and Anya both lurched away and looked towards the window, but didn't have to look long, because a bright orange light was shining through. Draco quickly let go of Anya and ran to the window and looked outside. Sure enough, the barn that Anya's family owned was on fire. In front of the fire stood a tall lean figure, but his head and his body was covered in a black cloak. He had a wand in his hand.

Draco turned around to look at Anya, and saw that she was already gone from the room. He swore under his breath and went down the first set of stairs. At the bottom, right in front of the line of clothes in the hidden closet, stood Anya trying to push open the door. Draco stopped her and pulled her hands away from the door knob, forcing her to look him in the eye. Her eyes were shining with fresh tears, and her hair was a little ruffled from being in such a huff. She was shaking. "Anya.." Draco said gently, causing her to incline her ear to him gently, "You stick by me, do you understand? Do not leave my side unless I tell you to. Alright? Anya…?" She whimpered and buried her face into his chest, nodding. "Alright…Then let's find your parents and Dumbledore." She grabbed her by the hand and they opened the door.

Anya's father was already standing there next to Dumbledore and his wife. Anya's mother ran over and embraced her daughter, telling her she was so glad everything was alright. Draco allowed the two women to embrace while he approached Dumbledore, "What's going on? Who is that out there?"

Dumbledore's eyes were sad, his face very serious, "I don't know.." There was a pause as he glanced outside quickly, "A Death Eater, I believe."

"What do they want with Anya's family?"

Dumbledore watched as the black figure stood there, waiting until someone went outside to face him. This person, whomever it was, didn't want to just burn down the house and leave the family to perish. This person wanted to duel. This person had come to confront someone. Dumbledore once again looked Draco in the eye, "There is only one person who knows about Anya's family, Draco."

Draco didn't ask anymore questions. He took off his outer jacket, pulled out his wand and ran to the door. He stopped, suddenly, however, and looked back at Anya. She was standing there with her mother's arm around her shoulder, staring at him in confusion and worry. He sighed deeply and looked over to her parents, who were looking outside the window. Draco stalked over to Anya, and kissed her softly on the cheek. With that, and a nod to her father, he ran outside to face the phantom. The man in the cloak straightened when he saw Draco leave the home and start to walk down the stairs. Draco's arm was outstretched with his wand facing him. The phantom said, "Draco, my dear boy, you would raise your wand to your own father?"

"When he's harming someone I care for, yes."

"I came here to take you back home. Where you will stay."

Draco snarled at him and yelled out one of his spells, causing his father to go flying back closer to the flames. "Why are you doing this? Why do you hate Muggles so much? Why do you have to make me so unhappy just because you're prejudice?" He didn't allow his father to speak, however, because he sent another blow to him, causing his father to fall back down onto the ground again.

Lucius obviously wasn't expecting his son to defy his orders, because his wand was still in his cane. He hadn't planned on using his wand on his son, but he knew that in order to get him home he must. Lucius stood up and pulled out his wand from his cane and shot a quick spell back to his son, once Draco was down, he walked over and held the wand to his son's throat, "You are the only heir to my fortune. To our family." He seethed out, pushing the wand harder against Draco, "I will not allow you to spoil our entire family by being with a Muggle. And I will not allow you to embarrass me. If the pure blood of the Malfoy family can't carry on, then the family line can end."

"Stop!"

Lucius and Draco both looked up. Running towards then was the petite figure of Anya. Draco's eye widened, as did Lucius. Draco couldn't help but note that he could hear the little pitter-patter of her feet as she approached.

Anya ran up until she was only about a foot away from the two men, "Mr. Malfoy…please…"

"This doesn't concern you, Muggle."

Anya looked down at Draco helplessly, and slowly she looked up at his father, "It does…It does concern me sir. It concerns me because I'm very much in love with your son and I don't want to lose him." Tears started to roll down her eyes, and she let out a little sob before carrying on, "Please…Please don't hurt him…" Draco's ears perked up when she said the 'L' word. He looked up at Anya, seeing her in the most beautiful way he possibly could. She just said she loved him…

"You stupid girl. He's ruining our entire family. I have to." Lucius eye's twitched with emotion. He didn't want to. He'd never want to harm his son. But it was the only thing he could think of to save his family line and his reputation.

Anya looked to Draco before looking up at Lucius again, "Have you…ever been happy, sir?"

Lucius twitched at the question, "Of course I have."

"I mean really happy. The type of happy you never want to forget." He didn't answer.

So she continued, "You know. When you're with someone, and everything inside you flutters and you feel that when you're with them, everything is how it should be? When nothing could ruin it?" Lucius slacked his wand, allowing Draco to wiggle himself from under it and stand up, facing the both of them. "Normally, most people never get to feel it in their life time…" She said quietly, looking at Draco for a moment before turning her gaze back to his father, "But I have." Draco came and stood by her, his wand in his clenched hand, ready to protect her if the opportunity rose, "I felt it with your son."

Lucius eyes softened slightly, however he spit out, "You're not a pure blood."

She smiled sadly at him, pity and understanding in her eyes, "No." She said before taking Draco hands in hers staring Lucius in the eyes, "But my love for him, it's pure. Pure enough."


	12. Epilogue

It's been a year since the duel with Lucius. Anya and Draco were sitting the middle of the Muggle café that Dumbledore had taken Draco when they first arrived in London. He was sipping a coffee, and she was sipping her hot chocolate, shivering slightly when the door of the café opened. He was smiling at her, and once in a while, chuckling when she didn't something cute like allow the cream from the hot chocolate to get on her nose.

"Draco, you still haven't told me why I had to come to London…" She said innocently. She's so cute.

For the past year, Anya finished her last year of high school and then moved to London to attend university. Draco finished his last year of Hogwarts as well, and was spending time as an Intern for working in the Ministry of Magic. Every weekend, and if they were lucking on the weekdays, the two would meet up for a date. They would switch back and forth between going to London, America or Hogsmead, but it was normally a dinner date and then long walks.

The night of the fight was a dramatic one, but when Anya confessed her love for Draco so profusely, Lucius didn't have the heart to force them apart, and he allowed the two to continue their relationship. He was weary of Anya, of course. The first couple of times she came over for dinner was quite unnerving for both her and Draco, but bit by bit she was able to get him to warm up to her. Now they were able to sit comfortably in the same room, alone, and discuss various subjects. Lucius was particularly interested in America and its odd traditions. She even promised to take him to a baseball game, much to his…confusion…

Draco's mother was a lot more welcoming than his father. "So long as my young man is happy." She said over and over again whenever the subject of the two came out in the open. She mothered Anya whenever the girl stayed at Malfoy Manor with them or went with them to trips. Many times she took Anya shopping and had lunch dates with her. If another wizard approached them on the street and questioned the blood of Anya, it was Draco's mother that was first to stand up for her.

Draco, of course, was the happiest of all. On the night of Anya's confession, when his father finally decided to leave, he told her he loved her back-loved her so much. They spent the night sitting in front of the window in the tower discussing various things and watching the sun slowly rise over the horizon. She cried a little more during the night, out of happiness, of course, and he did too.

Anya's family was at ease. When they heard that Draco's parents had accepted Anya, they were a lot more kind to Draco. The Malfoy's and Anya's parents even met for dinner occasionally. Lucius and Anya's father would commonly speak about economics, and Anya's father even mentioned that Anya was pure English, and that Draco would also be tainting the family line. Lucius took it well.

Draco smiled at her, "Anya, where was our first date?"

Anya looked up from her hot chocolate innocently, "Here. Remember? We came here a year ago right before you had to get back to Hogwarts. It was after you came to my house for the first time. Remember?"

Draco smiled, "Oh, right of course, I remember."

Anya nodded and looked around the café. To her surprise, everyone's eyes were on her and Draco. "Draco, why is-"

She didn't get to reply, because Draco had stood up and taken her hand, and allowed himself to go on one knee in front of her. Anya's eyes widened at the sudden movement. Her cheeks turned a very bright shade of red, and a smell weak smiled graced her lips. He smiled up at her gently, "Anya, we've been dating for a year, and it's been the best year I could ever imagine. You were there for me through the hardest times, and even when I was down or stressed, you were always there for me. You've made me smile more than any other human being could, you've made my life complete. I love you. I love you with the pure love you described a year ago." Anya's eyes started to well up at his words, and she sniffled a little, her hand covering her mouth in that stereotypical proposal type of way. Draco continued, "I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. Anya, please, will you be my wife?"

Every eye in the café turned to Anya.

She let out another sniffle before smiling down at him and nodding, "Of course I will!" The café erupted in clapping and cheering for the young couple.

Draco stood up and embraced her in a tight hug before kissing her and taking her hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her engagement ring. It was silver with a very large emerald, of course. Draco leaned into her and pressed his forehead against hers, "It was my grandmother's." He whispered. She smiled down at the ring, and then smiled up at her fiancé, gently kissing him on the lips. Anya was going to marry Draco Malfoy. It was only a little bit over a year ago, about a year and six months, that she met this boy. This boy who once hated everything about her. He loved her, and she was going to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him. She was happy. Purely happy.

_Fin_

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Okay. That's it! :) It took a little while, but it was fun writing it. Tell me what you all think! I've already started another story about Draco and a muggle, so that will start soon. Also, I've written a one-shop about Draco and Hermione, so check it out and tell me what you think! If you find mistakes, tell me now so I can fix them as soon as possible. Thanks all! 3


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